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NY man indicted for sex with Shawano teen

Submitted by admin on Thu, 12/07/2017 - 07:17

Man allegedly came to Shawano to pursue relationship

By:

Kevin Murphy Leader Correspondent

A New York man who traveled to Shawano to allegedly continue a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl was indicted Tuesday in federal court with child exploitation and coercion to engage in sexual activity.

According to the criminal complaint, James A. Huskisson, 45, of Ozone Park, aka James Lee, Lucky and Jason Desantes, began chatting online in September with a Wolf River Lutheran High School female student.

Huskisson and the girl had allegedly sent each other sexually explicit photos and engaged in sexual conversations which resulted in Huskisson driving to the Shawano area in late September.

Photos and text messages recovered from the girl’s smart phone indicate she had been with Huskisson in her bedroom on Sept. 27.

WRLHS administrator Caroline Bedroske contacted Shawano County Sheriff’s Department on the afternoon of Sept. 26 about a suspicious vehicle with New York plates in the school’s parking lot, according to the complaint. Bedroske said the man in the car told her that he was waiting for some friends. A deputy sent to the school could not locate the car.

Three hours later, police received a shoplifting complaint from the Shawano Walmart and stopped a car with New York plates. Huskisson and the girl were in the car but the officer was unaware of the school’s complaint about the suspicious car or that Huskisson was a registered sex offender with a 1999 forcible rape conviction in New York.

Huskisson and the girl were cited for shoplifting and released.

Bedroske called the sheriff’s department the next day to report that the girl was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a New York man. The girl had told school staff that the man’s name was James Lee, that he had been at her house, had bought her clothing and a cell phone.

A sheriff’s deputy spoke with the girl’s mother, who doubted that her daughter’s story about a relationship was true. The deputy advised the woman to talk to her daughter and report back any information.

The criminal complaint states that, on Oct. 13, Bedroske told the sheriff’s department that the girl was in a relationship with the man from the suspicious vehicle complaint, and the girl was calling him from school. The school seized the girl’s phone.

Bedroske told police that the girl had told Huskisson that he was being sought by law enforcement.

A sheriff’s deputy met with the girl, her mother and school staff. The girl was reluctant to talk about Huskisson but said she had contacted him by phone.

On Nov. 3, Officer Todd Chaney spoke with the girl who confirmed that Huskisson had sent her a sexually explicit photo of himself.

Shawano police detective Christopher Gamm got the girl’s permission to log into her Facebook messenger account. He saw that the girl and Huskisson began chatting on Sept. 16 and she had told him that she was 15 years old. Their conversation turned sexual and sexually explicit photos were exchanged that same day.

More sexually charged talk and photos were exchanged between the man and girl during the following several days culminating with photos of them together taken on Sept. 27.

Huskisson returned to New York and was subsequently arrested near his home.

He is in federal custody and is to be transported to Wisconsin, where he faces charges including sexually exploiting a minor, and coerced or enticed a minor to engage in sexual activity, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

If convicted, Huskisson faces 25 years to life in prison.

No court date had been set as of Wednesday.

FBI offices in Green Bay and New York City, the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department, the Shawano Police Department, the Brown County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the New York Police Department, and the U.S. Marshal’s Service investigated the case.